Frame assembly for a display bin

ABSTRACT

An example frame assembly is configured to hold a display board relative to a bin. The assembly includes a frame establishing an opening and a hooked portion establishing a groove. The hooked portion is configured to extend into an interior of the bin when a portion of the bin is received within the groove. A locking feature is configured to engage a corresponding locking feature. A display board is held relative to the bin when the portion of the bin is received within the groove and the locking feature engages the corresponding locking feature such that the opening provides a path for viewing the display board.

BACKGROUND

This application relates generally to a frame assembly for securing adisplay board relative to a display bin.

Many establishments, especially retail establishments, organize productsusing large display assemblies that include multiple bins. Customersmove the bins to access products within that bin. Some bins are similarto cabinet drawers and include a face that slides with the bin toprovide access to the product. Other bins include a hinged face thattips out toward the customer to provide access. The faces of some binsare clear, which allows customers to view the quantity and type ofproducts within the bin.

The bins hold products such as cabinet pulls, hinges, and handles. Insome examples, the same type of product that is held within the bin ismounted to an outer face of the bin so a customer can easily determinethe type of product contained within that particular bin and view theproduct in a mounted condition. A customer viewing the display assemblyeventually may choose a product based on the products mounted to theouter faces of the bins within that display assembly.

As known, customers influence the aesthetics of a room by changing theappearance of the mounting surface, the type of product, or both.Although existing bins display the products in the mounted condition,customers often intend to mount the products to a surface that differssubstantially from the face of the bin. For example, a customer mayvisit the retail establishment to purchase a pull that they intend tomount to a wooden cabinet within their home. Within the retailestablishment, however, the customer sees that product mounted to aclear plastic face of the display bin. Displaying the pull within theretail establishment on a mounting surface that differs substantiallyfrom the customer's desired mounting surface inhibits the ability of thecustomer to visualize the aesthetic impact of that pull within theirhome. This can negatively impact product sales. Some bins include woodenfaces instead of clear plastic, but these faces are not easily changedto adapt to changing customer tastes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An example frame assembly is configured to hold a display board relativeto a bin. The assembly includes a frame establishing an opening and ahooked portion establishing a groove. The hooked portion is configuredto extend into an interior of the bin when a portion of the bin isreceived within the groove. A locking feature is configured to engage acorresponding locking feature. A display board is held relative to thebin when the portion of the bin is received within the groove and thelocking feature engages the corresponding locking feature such that theopening provides a path for viewing the display board.

An example bin assembly includes a bin wall of a display bin moveablebetween a first position and a second position. The display bin isconfigured to hold at least one product that is more accessible when thebin wall is in the first position than when the bin wall is in thesecond position. The example bin assembly also includes a display boardand a frame moveable between an engaged position with the bin wall and adisengaged position. The display board is visible through an openingestablished in the frame. The display board is held relative to anoutwardly facing surface of the display bin when the frame is in theengaged position.

An example method of holding a display board adjacent to a bin includespositioning a display board between a bin and a frame, hanging the framefrom the bin, and engaging a locking feature on the frame with a lockingfeature on the bin.

These and other features of the present invention can be best understoodfrom the following specification and drawings, the following of which isa brief description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an example display bin assemblyholding a plurality of products.

FIG. 2 shows a section view through line 2-2 of the FIG. 1 display binwithout the plurality of products.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of another example bin assembly.

FIG. 4 shows an example display bin unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an example bin assembly 10 includes a bin14, a frame assembly 18, a display board 22, and a pull 26. The binassembly 10 defines an interior area 30 used for storing products 34,such as products offered for sale within a retail establishment. In thisexample, the pull 26 is the same type of product as the products 34stored within the interior area 30. The pull 26 is mounted to thedisplay board 22 and faces in an outward direction away from the bin 14such that a customer looking at the bin 14 can see the pull 26 and thedisplay board 22. The products 34 stored within the interior area 30 aretypically hidden from the customer's view by the display board 22.

In this example, the display board 22 is a piece of stained wood. Inother examples, the display board 22 is entirely a polymer material, alaminated board, etc. The specifications of the display board 22, suchas color, material, etc., can be changed to reflect different mountingenvironments for the pull 26. Accordingly, even though a customer iswithin the retail establishment, the customer is able to see the pull 26mounted adjacent to the display board 22 closely resembling thecustomer's desired mounting surface.

The example frame 18 is moveable between an engaged position with anouter face 38 of the bin 14 and a disengaged position. In the engagedposition, the frame 18 holds the display board 22 against the outer face38. In the disengaged position, at least a portion of the frame 18 ismoved away from the outer face 38 enough to enable swapping the displayboard 22 with another display board.

In this example, one end of the frame 18 includes a hooked portion 42that establishes a groove 46 configured to receive an upper edge portion50 of the outer face 38. An opposing end of the frame 18 includes alocking feature 54, which, in this example, is a multitude of tabs 58.The bin 14 includes a corresponding locking feature 62, which is adownwardly extending rib 66 in this example.

To move the example frame 18 from the disengaged position to the engagedposition, the hooked portion 42 is first hung from the outer face 38.The tabs 54 are then moved toward the outer face 38 in direction A.Contact with the rib 66 flexes the tabs 54 downward until a raised area70 of the tabs 54 move past the rib 66. Once past the rib 66, the tabs54 flex back and the raised area 70 limits movement of the frame 18 awayfrom the bin 14. Flexing the tabs 54 away from the rib 66 enables theframe 18 move away from the bin 14 to the disengaged position. The frame18, in this example, is a molded polymer material enabling flexing thetabs 54.

The display board 22 is typically positioned between the outer face 38of the bin 14 and the frame 18 when the frame 18 is in the engagedposition. In this example, a spacer 74 holds the display board 22 awayfrom the outer face 38, which creates a cleared area 78 between theouter face 38 and the display board 22. The cleared area 78 accommodatesa fastener 82 protruding from the backside of the display board 22. Inthis example, the fastener 82 helps secures the pull 26 to the displayboard 22.

The bin 14 is a molded polymer bin and includes the spacer 74 and therib 66; i.e., the spacer 74 and rib 66 are molded together with the bin14 as a monolithic component. In another example, the bin 14 is a woodenbin, and the spacer 74, the rib 66, or both are separate componentssecured to the bin 14 with an adhesive.

The example frame 18 generally defines a rectangular opening 86. Whenthe frame 18 is in the engaged position, the customer can view thedisplay board 22 and the pull 26 through the opening 86. The opening 86thus provides a view path.

In this example, the frame 18, the opening 86, the outer face 38, andthe display board 22 each have generally rectangular profile. Otherexamples utilize different profiles. Notably, the width of the exampleopening 86 is slightly smaller than the display board 22. That is, thedisplay board 22 extends laterally further than the opening 86, whichprovides some overlap between the frame 18 and the display board 22 atareas 90. The frame 18 contacts the display board 22 at these areas 90to hold the position of the display board 22 relative to the bin 14 andthe frame 18 when the frame 18 is in the engaged position.

In the example bin assembly 10, the customer moves the pull 26 to movethe bin 14 to a position where the customer can access the products 34within the interior area 30. In another example bin assembly 10 a (FIG.3) a handle 96 extends from the frame 18. The customer uses the handle96, rather than the pull 26, to move the bin to a position where thecustomer can access the products 34 within the interior area 30. Thehandle 96 is molded together with the frame 18 in one example, whichreduces potential labor costs associated with securing the handle 96 tothe frame 18.

Referring now to FIG. 4 with continuing reference to FIGS. 1 and 3, adisplay unit 94 includes a plurality of bin assembly 10 and a pluralityof the bin assembly 10 a. In this example, each bin assembly 10 presentsdifferent mounting combinations of the pull 26 and the display board 22to the customer viewing the unit 94. The frame 18 provides a visualbarrier that separates the display board 22 from an adjacent displayboard.

The example display unit 94 also includes a multiple of a bin assembly10 b each having a handle 98 secured directly to the display board 22.If the bin assembly 10 b includes a pull 26, the handle 98 is secured tothe display board 22 separate from the pull 26.

Incorporating the handles 96 and 98 into the display bin assemblies 10 aand 10 b enables the customer to access the products 34 using theappropriate one of the handles 96 and 98 rather than the pull 26 mountedto the display boards 22 and 22.

Although this example discloses the pull 26 mounted to the display board22, a person skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosurewould be able to apply the inventive display bin to other types ofproducts and environments to achieve a desired result. In some examples,a hinge, handle, or other type of product is mounted to the displayboard 22. In still other examples, no product 34 is mounted to thedisplay board 22.

In some examples, the handles 96 and 98 are incorporated into binassemblies 10 a and 10 b that contain low profile products 34 or noproduct 34 mounted to the display board 22. The handles 96 and 98provide the customer with a handhold for moving the bin assemblies 10 aand 10 b in such examples.

A feature of this invention is facilitating the exchange of a displayboard with another display board. Another feature of this inventionincludes the ability to display products adjacent various types ofdisplay boards. Yet another feature of this invention is displayingproduct mounted adjacent to a particular type of material withoutmanufacturing the entire bin from that material.

Although an embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker ofordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modificationswould come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, thefollowing claims should be studied to determine the true scope andcontent of this invention.

1. A frame assembly configured to hold a display board relative to abin, comprising: a frame establishing an opening; a hooked portionestablishing a groove, the hooked portion configured to extend into aninterior of the bin when a portion of the bin is received within thegroove; and a locking feature configured to engage a correspondinglocking feature, wherein a display board is held relative to the binwhen the portion of the bin is received within the groove and thelocking feature engages the corresponding locking feature such that theopening provides a path for viewing the display board.
 2. The frameassembly of claim 1, wherein the groove receives an upper edge portionof an outwardly facing wall of the bin.
 3. The frame assembly of claim2, wherein the corresponding locking feature is a rib on a lower portionof the bin.
 4. The frame assembly of claim 3, wherein the rib is adownwardly facing rib.
 5. The frame assembly of claim 1, wherein thelocking feature on the frame comprises at least one of a tab or anaperture.
 6. The frame assembly of claim 1, wherein the frame isconfigured to contact the perimeter of the display board.
 7. The frameassembly of claim 1, wherein the frame comprises a handle.
 8. A binassembly, comprising: a bin wall of a display bin moveable between afirst position and a second position, the display bin configured to holdat least one product that is more accessible when the bin wall is in thefirst position than when the bin wall is in the second position; adisplay board; and a frame moveable between an engaged position with thebin wall and a disengaged position, the display board visible through anopening established in the frame holding the display board relative toan outwardly facing surface of the display bin when the frame is in theengaged position.
 9. The bin assembly of claim 8, including a pullmounted to the display board.
 10. The bin assembly of claim 9, whereinthe at least one product is the same as the pull.
 11. The bin assemblyof claim 8, including a spacer that limits movement of the display boardtoward the bin when the frame is in the engaged position.
 12. The binassembly of claim 11, including a pull mounted to the display board witha fastener extending through the display board, wherein the spacerestablishes clearance between the display board and the bin foraccommodating the fastener.
 13. The bin assembly of claim 8, wherein anouter profile of the frame and an outer profile of the display board arerectangular, the frame extending laterally further than the displayboard.
 14. The bin assembly of claim 8, wherein the opening has arectangular profile, the display board extending laterally further thanthe opening.
 15. The bin assembly of claim 8, wherein the frame contactsan outer periphery of the display board when the frame is in the engagedposition.
 16. The bin assembly of claim 8, wherein the frame hangs froman upper edge of the bin when the frame is in the engaged position. 17.The bin assembly of claim 8, wherein the frame comprises a handleconfigured to move the bin wall between the first position and thesecond position.
 18. A method of holding a display board adjacent to abin, comprising: positioning a display board between a bin and a frame;hanging the frame from the bin; and engaging a locking feature on theframe with a locking feature on the bin.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein the frame comprises a hook for hanging the frame.
 20. The methodof claim 19, wherein the frame establishes an opening for viewing thedisplay board.